Baseball
by timisnotmyname
Summary: Kataang. --Oneshot--Baseball is our National Pastime and always will be. It provides entertainment, something to obsess over, a temporary family, and sometimes, it even helps you with love. Modern-Day AU. Rated 4 a bit of violence and suggestive themes.


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AN: k, this idea came to me a couple of weeks back when i was at Yankee Stadium when the Yanks were playing the Birds for the last Day Game ever at Yankee stadium. I was walking through the halls, when, BOOM! inspiration hit me.

**btw, im NOT a Yankees fan OR a Sox fan. in fact, i hate them both.**

**Go Os!!**

**and i made up the Kiss Cam. but the stalking seems like something Yanks fans would do.**

**and yes, that was meant to be offensive.**

* * *

Baseball

Baseball is America's national pastime. For decades, Baseball has provided people of all kinds with excitement, entertainment, and most of all, obsession. Whether it's a die-hard Yankee fan with season tickets or a Rooter for the underdog Nationals, they are everywhere. And even as Basketball and Soccer gain momentum in the American sports world, and even while Football becomes immensely popular, Baseball will still be America's national pastime.

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_Crack!_ The sound of the bat making contact with the small baseball reverberated throughout the stadium. The cheers of fans could be heard everywhere as people went crazy over the home team. As a pair of tanned teenagers made their way throughout the stadium, they were greeted by many of the vendors, all of whom knew the tow by name.

The older of the two stopped as he waited for his sister to catch up to him and put his nose into the air and tuck a deep whiff of the scents in the air.

"Ahh, it sure feels good to back, doesn't it, Katara?" the boy said, turning to the girl trailing him, who smiled and nodded.

"It sure does. I missed this place." She replied with a smile on her face as she looked around at the glory that is Yankee Stadium.

"Yeah, I know! It was ridiculous! Who has ever heard of a twenty-two game road trip?! I mean, come on!" The boy exclaimed, his voice cracking.

The girl named Katara nodded her head in agreement. "Well, it doesn't matter anymore. The point is, they're back. And I'm ready to see the Sox get their butts kicked by our Yankees again!" She nearly yelled with enthusiasm.

"Amen to that." Her brother nodded. He looked up at the ceiling of the colossal building that resided in the Bronx. With its white paint, crowded hallways and humongous stands, it was quite a sight to see.

"Hey Sokka, are you gonna stand there all day admiring the scenery, or are you gonna come with me to watch the game?" Katara teased her brother.

"Ya ya, I'm coming, calm down." The teen replied, shrugging her off nonchalantly. "I'm just admiring this place. Can you believe that they're going to tear it down this year?" He asked her, a hint of sadness in his tone. When he didn't get a reply, he looked down at where his sister had been a moment before, only to see her striding off to their seats.

_Geez, girls are soooo impatient._ Sokka thought to himself as he hurried after his younger sister.

A couple of minutes later, the two were seated at the seats they sat at every game. They got season tickets every year as a present from their Gran-Gran, and they knew almost everyone at the stadium and at the section they sat at, right along the first-base dugout. There were a few empty seats in the section, but not many. Those who sat in the seats varied, because no one owned the season tickets for those seats that were empty. But one thing always remained the same. Those who sat there were always Yankee fans. ALWAYS. Everyone knew that it was Yankee fan territory.

That was why when a guy wearing a Boston Red Sox T-Shirt and hat sat down next her, she was understandably surprised. "Excuse me, but are you sure you have the right seat?" She asked, venom apparent in her tone.

He turned to her with a smile on his face, not at all withering at the look she was shooting him. "Yep." He said with a smile.

Katara let out a huff of air and hunched down in her seat. _Great._ She thought to herself. _Just great. I get stuck sitting next to the Red Sox fan. Just great._ She turned to look at him. Although, he was kind of cute...

_NO! Bad Katara! You DON'T side with the enemy!_ The little voice in Katara's head screamed at her, yelling about how all Sox fans were evil and how they were the enemy.

Besides, he was getting enough jeering from the rest of the people in the section, including her brother. But no matter what they said, he would just take it in stride, usually turning it around and making friendly remarks.

Eventually, the people stopped making snide comments, because they were warming up to the young man. He was so happy and he just radiated energy, so it was hard not to feel more content around him. Some fans were even starting to make fun of the Sox in a good-natured way, showing their acceptance for him through jokes.

Sokka, however, was still hostile towards him. "The Yankees have many years of rich traditions and victories. We have an incredible amount of Hall-of-Famers, and three of our pitchers have pitched perfect games. The Red Sox have no traditions, except for horribly failing each year for 86 years." At this, there came many murmurs of agreement.

The teenager (he had introduced himself as Aang earlier) merely smiled wider and replied to Sokka. "Your right. The Yankees do have many traditions, and we in Boston respect that. We just find the whole 'Spend lots of money to buy players away from other teams' tradition a bit ridiculous." Aang replied with a laugh.

There were a couple of murmurs of agreement again, and Katara couldn't help herself. She laughed. Sokka glared daggers at her.

"Katara! You can't laugh when a Red Sox fan makes fun of the Yankees! It's not right!" Sokka exclaimed, his voice cracking again.

"Yeah Katara, it's not right."Aang agreed. Sokka looked confused as Aang continued. "It would be like betraying the team you swore you be with until you quit the game, going over to the team you swore to hate. It would be like joining the enemy to help them take down your original team. But don't worry, I'm sure Johnny Damon could help you out. After all, he did the same thing." Aang smiled. At this, everyone burst out laughing. Everyone, that is, except Sokka.

He just sighed and looked towards the field, where he instantly brightened. "Yes!" he shouted excitedly. "It's the middle of the sixth inning! You know what that means, right Katara?"

She nodded. "Kiss Cam."

Upon seeing Aang's puzzled look, the young girl explained it to him further. "The Kiss Cam is what happens every sixth inning of the first game in a series versus the Red Sox in Yankee Stadium. They show a couple on the board and those two have to kiss." She explained.

Aang gave her a funny look. "So Sokka likes seeing people make out?" He asked, confused.

Katara laughed, amused. "No, it's the end that he likes. At the end of every Kiss Cam, the cameras managed to find a guy and a girl sitting next to each other that aren't, you know, together, and they have to kiss. And if they don't, everyone in the stadium shuns them and none of the vendors will sell them food or anything, and people hunt the two down outside the stadium and everything."

"Wow. That's a bit... obsessive." Aang whistled. "Have you ever actually _seen_ that happen to anyone?"

The girl sitting next to him nodded. "Yeah, I have. A couple of times, in fact." She confirmed.

Aang shivered. "That's, uh, you know, creepy."

Katara shrugged. She didn't take part in the hunting of the ones who didn't kiss, but her brother did. And as she turned to him now, she noticed him removing several pitchforks and unlit torches from a backpack and passing them around.

"Sokka, what the heck are you doing?!"

"I don't know why, Katara, but I had this feeling when we left that I would need these. I think we're going to get a no-go today!" was the explanation that he offered, referring to the stadium slang for two people who didn't kiss on the Kiss Cam.

Katara shook her head and sighed, looking down. While looking down, she heard a hush go around above her. Confused, she looked up to see everyone sitting within several feet of her staring. At her. Or, to be precise, her and Aang.

As realization dawned on Katara, she slowly looked up at the video board. What the young teenager saw took her breath away, even though she already partially knew it was coming.

There was a video camera trained on her and Aang, which was directing a live feed to the scoreboard.

Katara and Aang both turned slowly at the same time and faced one another.

"Katara?" Aang whispered, his voice clear over the silence in the stadium. He looked a bit worried, a frown covering his face.

"Yeah?" Katara replied, already knowing what he was going to ask as a frown and a look of worry found their way on to her face as well.

"Were those things you told me, you know... true?" The teenager, who, Katara suddenly realized, was really quite muscular, questioned her with even more worry in his voice.

She nodded.

Katara noted distantly that the crowd was growing restless, as evident from the scattered whispers and murmurs. Aang must have noticed this as well, because he looked away so he could scan the stadium. As he turned back to the girl seated next to him, he muttered something about how 'there's only one thing to do then', and did something that took Katara's breath away.

He kissed her.

It was nothing epic, but it was no little peck on the lips. There were, somewhat to Katara's disappointment, no tongues involved.

As he pulled away amid the cheers of the crowd, Katara stayed frozen in her spot for a moment with her eyes still closed before slumping back in her seat in a daze. Shaking her head and coming back down to Earth, she heard Aang's many apologies. She waved them off and said that it was fine.

But the truth was, it wasn't fine.

It was amazing.

Aang seemed to grasp this, if not fully, at least a bit. He smiled a little and said he was going to get some drinks. He asked Sokka and Katara if they wanted anything, and Katara waved him off again. Sokka didn't reply, so Aang shrugged and left.

The young girl at the age of about 17 was about to drift back into her daydreams of the young man who had just left when she noticed her brother still holding a pitchfork and torch, which, by the way, was now lit.

"Um, Sokka, you can put away the riot stuff. We kissed, remember?" Katara explained gently.

"Yeah, I KNOW you kissed. That's the problem." Sokka replied through fritted teeth. This comment earned him many good-natured laughs and boos, along with a showering of comments about how he shouldn't be so rigid because it wasn't their fault.

Sokka just shook his head and sat back down. Katara saw this and smiled, and was about to make a comment before Sokka beat her to it. "Don't get too excited Katara. I'm just waiting for Aang to get back. I want to save as much of my torch as I can."

Katara laughed and when she heard another laugh from right next to her, she turned to see Aang returning with drinks. When he handed Sokka a Coke, he snatched it out of his hand and glared at the boy before sipping the drink angrily.

Katara tried to refuse the Pepsi he handed her, but he insisted.

She smiled and took it from him as the guys sitting behind them started making kissing sounds and the girls started sighing happily and muttering about how romantic it was.

Embarrassed, Katara sunk lower in her seat. Noting this, Aang frowned, thinking that she was unhappy about kissing him, sending his mood rocketing downhill.

Katara sighed and got up, saying she was going to go get snacks for everyone. Of course, this did nothing to improve Aang's impression of why she was upset.

As she walked through the bustling hallways of the stadium, vendors kept whistling and saying things like "All right Katara!" or "Nice kiss girl!", to which she usually responded to with a glare or a sharp "Shut it Fred!" or "Go jump in a lake Johnny!!"

And the people noticing her for her kiss weren't limited to the vendors. Guys kept coming up to her and to try to flirt with her, saying she looked like a good kisser, while women kept asking her if the guy she had kissed was single, if he was a good kisser, etc.

Just when Katara thought about turning back, she came upon the place she was looking for. Katara got into line and was waiting when she heard someone say her name.

Turing, she saw her friends Suki, Toph, Zuko and Mai. Her eyes opened wide with shock, then she quickly rushed away.

Her friends would NEVER let her live down the fact that she had kissed a RED SOX fan.

She wove through the throngs of people , dodging this way and that, ignoring the shouts of protest and the people calling her name behind her as she tried to escape.

She turned several corners and went down a couple flights of stairs before climbing another flight. When Katara finally stopped to catch her breath she was convinced she had thrown her pursuers off. After a minute of rest, she started walking again.

As she walked, she noticed that this wing in which she was walking was very blatantly devoid of people.

In fact, it was bit creepy, because there were almost no people around. Actually, there WERE no people around. She was all alone.

Katara started walking a bit faster, obviously freaked out by the deserted corridor. When she heard footsteps behind her, she broke into an all-out sprint, but the footsteps were gaining.

Katara turned around and saw a man she didn't recognize chasing after her. She nearly had a heart attack. As she rounded the corner, she ran into something and fell over, not looking where she was going. She looked up to see another man dressed similarly as the guy who had been chasing her, who was now standing on the other side of her. They were wearing jeans and plain t-shirts, as well as jean-jackets. There were a couple of other men standing behind the two, some holding metal poles.

One of the men grabbed her by the collar and slammed her against the wall. She felt him feeling the pockets of her skinny jeans before slowly sliding them down. Katara started crying, fearing the worst, when all of a sudden she heard a small commotion. Suddenly, the man behind her was crumpled up on the floor. Katara turned around to see none other than Aang standing there, fighting off the men with what seemed to be one of their own poles.

As Aang finished off the last of the men, Katara pulled her jeans back up. He turned to her, concern written all over his face. He dropped the pole he had used as Zuko, Toph, Suki, Sokka, Mai, and some other fans ran forward, fighting with some more bandits that must have been hiding off to the side.

But neither of the two noticed as Aang murmured Katara's name and went to embrace her.

"Thank God your okay. We got worried when you didn't-" Aang started saying as he walked towards Katara. Unfortunately, he didn't get to finfish his statement, because he tripped over the body of the man who had held her against the wall.

He crashed into Katara and sent them both flying towards the ground with Aang lying on top of Katara. He propped himself up so as not to put too much weight on her.

Aang brushed a tear off of Katara's face and smiled. Katara blushed but smiled in return.

Aang slowly closed the gap between them as they kissed for the second time that day. This time it was a lot different though. It WAS rather epic, and as Aang rolled over so Katara was on top of him, she realized that this time, there WERE tongues involved.

As they pulled apart, they didn't hear Sokka's cries. They just stared into to each other's eyes smiled, and whispered the three words the other wanted to har the most.

"I love you."


End file.
